August 18, specialists of the Russian Federation and Belarus will conduct observation flight by AN-30B under the international Treaty on Open Skies. The aim of the flight is to verify if arms control in force are observed in the visited state.
Such flights are conducted not only above the territory of Lithuania but also of other states of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).Lithuanian officers also participate in such flights over the other OSCE states.
The Treaty on Open Skies ratified by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania on 9 December 2004 is a vital international arms control instrument invoking actual measures to increase transparency and openness among the states in military sector.
The Treaty regulates observation flights of participating states over the territories of other participating states. The Treaty also stipulates the order of information exchange among the states and of completion of joint missions.
Report signed by both the inspecting and the inspected states is drawn up and communicated to other participating states after the flight. Representatives of the state over whose territory the flight has been conducted are entitled to observe development of photo films from the flight and a copy is passed to them. Other participating states can also acquire copies of the photo film.
POC: JHQ PAO Capt Marius Varna, phone 00370 5 219 6401, 00370 686 35 407.
